A Flip Side To Magic's Homecoming

SUNDAY VIEWPOINT KUNDA

Iguess it's pretty difficult to walk away from $14 million. Even for Magic Johnson, who has easily tripled that number over the years.

However, we're not talking money here. We've grown accustomed to pro athletes breaking the bank like we've grown accustomed to reading the boxscores.

What we're addressing here is Magic Johnson's decision to return to the Lakers and the NBA. That story came first; the money deal came later.

Obviously, Johnson is not your average athlete, in skills or in health.

Bless the man for his straight forwardness after he had been diagnosed as HIV positive. He had opened the eyes of the world to a dreaded illness.

Could there be a better spokesman, whether he be a politician, entertainer or sports personality than Magic Johnson?

There's an unprecedented flip side to all of this, and while it's not life-threatening, it is something to think about.

Great basketball players have come and gone. Special players like Bob Cousy, Wilt Chamberlain and, more recently, Larry Bird. We've marveled over their skills and contributions to the game.

Put Johnson's name right next to those people. The man even gave us a happy face while he was doing his thing with a basketball.

Unfortunately, that's not going to be the case when Johnson comes around for the second time. Oh, he'll make an impact on the floor with his smooth, gliding moves, and flashing a smile.

However, Johnson's skills will be taking a backseat to his health report. Did you ever hear of a team of doctors sitting courtside, monitoring an athlete's condition?

We're not going to be asking, how did Magic Johnson play last night? How many points? How many assists?

Instead, the questions will be pointed in another direction. How did Magic Johnson hold up? How many minutes did he play? Did he get hurt? Did anybody get hurt?

It doesn't seem right.

Johnson has been a wonderful spokesmen in the fight against AIDS. He has made the public aware. We can be thankful for that. The people actively involved in the fight against AIDS are just as thankful.

Disturbing is the fact that the doctors are still unsure what the grind of professional basketball would do to a man with Johnson's medical condition.

That said, let's go on to another area -- the bench report.

Johnson had said that he'd be available to the Lakers for 60 or so games out of the 82 that NBA teams play. In effect, he'd be a little more than a part--time player.

Will there be a Laker "A Team" and a Laker "B Team?" One makes the playoffs; the other doesn't?

Basketball, perhaps more than any other sport, demands total teamwork. The running, the passing, all in split seconds, call for team togetherness, not for one night, but for the total season.

Johnson says he wants to play only in the "big games." Who decides which are the "big games?"

How does the cliche go, something like "You never take an opponent too lightly?" Does Johnson make those decisions? Does rookie coach Randy Pfund? Does the front office?

We're opening up a totally new philosophy in a team sport.

What about Johnson's replacement? How'd you like to be that guy? Do I play tonight or do I sit?

Jerry West, the Lakers' general manager who knows something about the game, said, "We're all concerned about a limited number of games. This raises questions for the coaches."

Johnson is 33 and, if he'd be a totally healthy competitor, he'd have a few good years left. But there are signs other than the virus that make you wonder just how physically strong he really is.

Johnson fit perfectly with the Dream Team that carried the American flag in Barcelona. Heart-warming, for sure, because Johnson was a part of it, but not the NBA.

Don't forget, too, that Johnson missed a couple of those runaways in the Olympics. He pulled up lame with a knee problem in the second game and sat out the next two.

I'd rather remember Johnson as "Magic Supreme" than as a guy battling physical ailments in a comeback effort.